Woodward at Copper pass projected to sell out

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In it's inaugural year, the season pass product for Woodward at Copper is available for $249 for a limited time, but is likely to sell out, according to officials.

Though in it's fourth year in operation, the indoor training facility debuted the first-ever Woodward Season Pass for $199. The striking popularity of the pass product has required the ski area to limit the amount that can be sold.

"We had a set amount of Woodward season passes that we planned to offer for the first year and were amazed with the popularity and decided to extend the offer," said Austyn Williams, public relations director for Copper Mountain.

Currently, skiers, riders or those who merely want to utilize the plethora of trampolines , can buy the Woodward pass for $249.

The Woodward at Copper facility, otherwise known as "The Barn" opened February 2009. Woodward Camps looked into a few different mountains before settling on Copper, according to Williams.

Woodward at Copper is a year round indoor and outdoor snowboard and ski program that offers winter day sessions and weeklong camps in the summer.

Limiting the number of season passes is backed up by the need of ample space for training athletes.

"Our main reason for capping the sale is space," Williams said. "We can fit about 75 people in the barn during a session to keep things safe. So you can imagine that we could get in to a bind if everyone with a season pass shows up at the same time. We don't want to have to turn people away at the door because the session is full."

Woodward's various trampolines, foam pits and SnowFlex runs allow a wide range of athletes to take advantage of the facility.

"All abilities train at Woodward at Copper, novice snowboarders and skiers just trying their hand at the freestyle side of winter sports to the most elite athletes training for competitions," Williams said. "Participants are interested in learning everything from their first board slide to their first 360 or backflip to their first double cork."

Whether it's a first session or not, Woodward coaches are always at hand to offer progression training.

"Woodward helps by having experienced and well trained coaches who can break skills down and teach each step of the progression," Williams said. "We also teach people how to fall safely and provide a soft and forgiving environment so the consequences are lower when falls do happen."

The features of the Woodward venue include six Olympic-grade flybed trampolines, two foam pits, a trampoline harness system, an 18-foot tumble track into foam, a spring floor, different foam mats for safety and training and 6,200 square feet of SnowFlex, SnowFlex cliff and a 10-foot quarter pipe.

Snowboarders beware, SnowFlex, though it offers a simulation of snow, isn't nearly as forgiving as the real stuff.

It's not unusual for skier to adapt more easily to the artificial runs, similar to Astroturf, but snowboarders are prone to fall more often because staying straight is important - carving and edging out result in a fall.

"You have to make sure your posture over the board is correct and instead of carving, snowboarders have to focus weight on their front foot and pivot their back foot to turn," said Greg Reister, a coach for introduction sessions.

The 35-foot tall SnowFlex run the "Big Air drop-in" has three different size jumps into a foam pit landing.

The steep incline offered by the run is the most vertical slope in the entire ski area, according to Reister.

The learning curve for snowboarders keeps some 90 percent of first timers away from the big slope, Reister said.

"I would never want to teach anyone how to snowboard for the first time on SnowFlex, even intermediate snowboarders have a hard time adapting to the surface," he said. "I would estimate that only 10 percent of snowboarders make it to the big jump on their first session, skiers though usually get there - it's just much more of an adaptation for snowboarders."